Our 2016 A to Z Challenge is almost over. It went fast. Today our letter is V. I decided to have some fun with various V words.

For instance, I can’t get the word vitamin out of my head. I keep thinking about how there are so many nutrients the body needs—whether we get those nutrients from vitamins or natural foods. So it is with our writing: we need instruction, feedback, brainstorming and encouragement from other writers and if we don’t get those things, it’s akin to deficiencies and can produce specific disorders. We writers like to say we’re lonely but friendships abound—online and off. If we’re venturing through the writing and publishing world alone, something’s wrong somewhere.

There’s also the word village. I’m not completely on board with “it takes a village to raise a child” unless it’s a healthy village that consists of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. However, writers are a little different. We need our village of friends, encouragers, promoters, beta readers and more. And it, too, needs to be a healthy village—no negativity or jealousy.

I hope we’re all lucky enough to have a few veteran writers walk through the valleys with us. They know how to keep us on track because they’ve been in the valleys too. They can remind us to hang on to our vision. If we receive affirming vibes from authors we respect and admire, the variety and volume of work we turn out is tremendous. There’s no room for villains in our line of work—but we have fun writing them!

This was a fun post, but serious too. It made me think about you, my visitors. If I could give each of you gifts today, they would be validation that you’re a writer and victory over all the negatives in  your life.